Keeping a watchful eye on Portland's 'world famous' transit system Trimet! (known to the locals as the Trimess)

Trimess

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

BETH DEHAMEL

Prior to joining Mercy Corps, deHamel served as the Chief Financial Officer of the Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet) for nearly 4 years, where she oversaw TriMet’s $1 billion annual capital and operating budget, as well as the agency’s debt management, audit and accounting, and investment portfolio. Prior to TriMet, deHamel was the Vice President and Manager of Northwest Public Finance for Goldman Sachs & Co. For 4 years at Goldman Sachs, deHamel was the lead banker for over $5 billion public power and infrastructure project financings. Before that, deHamel spent 5 years at Morgan Stanley, as Executive Director of the Public Finance Department.

Ya know, Beth didn't snub me like Neil did at the public hearing. She chatted with me for a few minutes, took my suggestions. I don't know (and highly doubt) she did anything but at least she pretended to listen to me.

I'll give her a little credit there.

But years ago when I worked for a company in Montana our Finance Director told me that when the Finance Director leaves a company, you better get your resume, you better get your affairs in order, you better be ready for your walking papers. Because the Finance Director knows, even better than the CEO, President, COO, Board of Directors, the state of the organization. That person fully knows the bank accounts. They know when it's time to fly the coop. The President is still trying to assure everyone that all is good and dandy.

Not too long after I was laid off in a major corporate shuffle (that saw the Senior Vice President of Operations fired with cause the week before), my good friend walked out the door and found a job with a regional bank.

In the months and years following, the facility shut down, the parent company called us a "discontinued operation" (dead man walking, since the company still existed), sold for pennies on the dollar, and it would be sold several times thereafter with an endless musical chairs game of management (that saw that fired Sr VP rehired, and refired). The parent company was sold out and dissected.

The fact that she was optimistic when talking to me...but she left - for a much lower paying charitable job...that speaks VOLUMES. When highly paid Directors are willing to up and quit, and take a job at what, half the pay? TriMet's bankrupt, folks. I bet when Milwaukie MAX opens, Chapter 9 is the next step. There is a rush to build this light rail line and it's because TriMet's dark, dirty secret is quickly unraveling. It's going to be exposed. It's going to be a bombshell. And if it's exposed BEFORE the MAX line is built, that project will be dead - just like the WPPSS reactors that sit unfinished to this day, nearly 40 years after construction began seeing only one of five reactors built.